Réflexions sur les variations, dans le temps et dans l'espace, des ressources alimentaires de deux espèces sympatriques de semnopithèques

Our field work, the basis of this paper, was conducted in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in 1969 and 1970. It focused on food choices and space use by two sympatric species of leaf monkey, Presbytis senex and Presbytis entellus. Although the diets of these two leaf-monkeys were originally considered quite simil...

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Main Authors: Claude Marcel Hladik, Annette Hladik
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Société Francophone de Primatologie 2018-03-01
Series:Revue de Primatologie
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Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/primatologie/2803
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author Claude Marcel Hladik
Annette Hladik
author_facet Claude Marcel Hladik
Annette Hladik
author_sort Claude Marcel Hladik
collection DOAJ
description Our field work, the basis of this paper, was conducted in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in 1969 and 1970. It focused on food choices and space use by two sympatric species of leaf monkey, Presbytis senex and Presbytis entellus. Although the diets of these two leaf-monkeys were originally considered quite similar, quantifying food intake revealed differences that persisted through the year. The plants P. senex ate were the area’s most common tree species, which had leaves with the greatest fiber content. A low-altitude aerial photograph was clear enough to identify and measure all food-producing trees, and one could outline the territories of the different groups studied from observations a year earlier by a Smithsonian team. We calculated the food resources available to each territorial group of primates. Groups of P. senex were smaller, and moved shorter distances within smaller territories of 2-7 ha. P. entellus lived in larger groups, moved longer distances in larger territories of 10-15 ha, and fed from more different plant species with higher average food quality The trade-off between living on lower-quality, more abundant foods, entailing diminished movement over small territories, and living on a higher diversity of higher quality foods that require moving further and defending larger territories, was discussed in terms of taste perception, based either on satiety or on immediate sensory reward. More generally, there is a continuum between species with a lower diversity of foods, generally of lower quality, occupying smaller territories, and species with more diverse diets of higher average quality, that require moving longer distances and defending bigger territories.
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spelling doaj-art-a02d819b622c44c3b8dd439ca27007d52025-01-30T10:02:16ZengSociété Francophone de PrimatologieRevue de Primatologie2077-37572018-03-01810.4000/primatologie.2803Réflexions sur les variations, dans le temps et dans l'espace, des ressources alimentaires de deux espèces sympatriques de semnopithèquesClaude Marcel HladikAnnette HladikOur field work, the basis of this paper, was conducted in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in 1969 and 1970. It focused on food choices and space use by two sympatric species of leaf monkey, Presbytis senex and Presbytis entellus. Although the diets of these two leaf-monkeys were originally considered quite similar, quantifying food intake revealed differences that persisted through the year. The plants P. senex ate were the area’s most common tree species, which had leaves with the greatest fiber content. A low-altitude aerial photograph was clear enough to identify and measure all food-producing trees, and one could outline the territories of the different groups studied from observations a year earlier by a Smithsonian team. We calculated the food resources available to each territorial group of primates. Groups of P. senex were smaller, and moved shorter distances within smaller territories of 2-7 ha. P. entellus lived in larger groups, moved longer distances in larger territories of 10-15 ha, and fed from more different plant species with higher average food quality The trade-off between living on lower-quality, more abundant foods, entailing diminished movement over small territories, and living on a higher diversity of higher quality foods that require moving further and defending larger territories, was discussed in terms of taste perception, based either on satiety or on immediate sensory reward. More generally, there is a continuum between species with a lower diversity of foods, generally of lower quality, occupying smaller territories, and species with more diverse diets of higher average quality, that require moving longer distances and defending bigger territories.https://journals.openedition.org/primatologie/2803dietlong term observationsSri Lankaleaf monkeysresource distributiontaste perception
spellingShingle Claude Marcel Hladik
Annette Hladik
Réflexions sur les variations, dans le temps et dans l'espace, des ressources alimentaires de deux espèces sympatriques de semnopithèques
Revue de Primatologie
diet
long term observations
Sri Lanka
leaf monkeys
resource distribution
taste perception
title Réflexions sur les variations, dans le temps et dans l'espace, des ressources alimentaires de deux espèces sympatriques de semnopithèques
title_full Réflexions sur les variations, dans le temps et dans l'espace, des ressources alimentaires de deux espèces sympatriques de semnopithèques
title_fullStr Réflexions sur les variations, dans le temps et dans l'espace, des ressources alimentaires de deux espèces sympatriques de semnopithèques
title_full_unstemmed Réflexions sur les variations, dans le temps et dans l'espace, des ressources alimentaires de deux espèces sympatriques de semnopithèques
title_short Réflexions sur les variations, dans le temps et dans l'espace, des ressources alimentaires de deux espèces sympatriques de semnopithèques
title_sort reflexions sur les variations dans le temps et dans l espace des ressources alimentaires de deux especes sympatriques de semnopitheques
topic diet
long term observations
Sri Lanka
leaf monkeys
resource distribution
taste perception
url https://journals.openedition.org/primatologie/2803
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